Reply to: The parabolic power–velocity relationship does apply to fatigued states

Excerpt

We thank MacIntosh and Fletcher (2010) for sharing these previously unpublished power–cadence data. We concede that, on the basis of the only power–cadence data (Beelen and Sargeant 1991) available at the time of writing our reply to Burnley (2010), we may have underestimated the effect of cadence on the ability to produce maximal voluntary cycling power (MVCP) in a fatigued state (Marcora and Staiano 2010b). Nevertheless, the power–cadence data provided by MacIntosh and Fletcher (2010) strengthen, rather than weaken, our conclusion that muscle fatigue does not cause exhaustion during high-intensity aerobic exercise (Marcora and Staiano 2010a). In fact, according to the fatigued power–cadence relationship shown in Fig. 1 (open squares) (MacIntosh and Fletcher 2010), fatigued subjects that can produce 600 W at 108 RPM are able to produce 400 W at 40 RPM. Therefore, the fact that our subjects were able to produce 731 W at 108 RPM in the final MVCP test suggests that they were able to produce >400 W at exhaustion (40 RPM). …